[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 125 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                        April 25, 2007.
Whereas the term ``human shields'' refers to the use of civilians, prisoners of 
        war, or other noncombatants whose mere presence is designed to protect 
        combatants and objects from attack;
Whereas the use of human shields violates international humanitarian law (also 
        referred to as the Law of War or Law of Armed Conflict);
Whereas throughout the summer of 2006 conflict with the State of Israel, 
        Hezbollah forces utilized human shields to protect themselves from 
        counterattacks by Israeli forces;
Whereas the majority of civilian casualties of that conflict might have been 
        avoided and civilian lives saved had Hezbollah not employed this tactic;
Whereas the news media made constant mention of civilian casualties but rarely 
        pointed to the culpability, under international law, of Hezbollah for 
        their endangerment of such civilians;
Whereas United States and international leaders attempted to call the use of 
        human shields to the world's attention;
Whereas on August 11, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated, 
        ``Hezbollah and its sponsors have brought devastation upon the people of 
        Lebanon, dragging them into a war that they did not choose, and 
        exploiting them as human shields . . .'';
Whereas on August 14, 2006, President George W. Bush stated, ``Hezbollah 
        terrorists targeted Israeli civilians with daily rocket attacks. 
        Hezbollah terrorists used Lebanese civilians as human shields, 
        sacrificing the innocent in an effort to protect themselves from Israeli
        response . . .'';
Whereas Jan Egeland, United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian 
        Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, accused Hezbollah of 
        ``cowardly blending . . . among women and children'';
Whereas for states parties to Additional Protocol I, such as Lebanon, Article 
        50(1) to the Geneva Convention defines civilian as, ``[a]ny person who 
        does not belong to one of the categories of persons referred to in 
        Article 4(A)(1), (2), (3), and (6) of the Third Convention and in 
        Article 43 of this Protocol. In the case of doubt whether a person is a 
        civilian, that person shall be considered a civilian.'';
Whereas for states parties to Additional Protocol I, such as Lebanon, Article 
        51(7) to the Geneva Convention states, ``[T]he presence or movement of 
        the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to 
        render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in 
        particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to 
        shield, favour or impede military operations. The Parties to the 
        conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or 
        individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives 
        from attacks or to shield military operations.''; and
Whereas Convention IV, Article 28, Relative to the Protection of Civilian 
        Persons in Time of War of the Geneva Convention states, ``The presence 
        of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas 
        immune from military operations.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly condemns the use of innocent civilians as human 
        shields, including Hezbollah's use of this brutal and illegal tactic 
        during the summer of 2006 conflict with Israel;
            (2) calls on responsible nations to condemn the use of civilians as 
        human shields as a violation of international humanitarian law; and
            (3) calls on responsible nations and experts in the area of 
        international humanitarian law to focus particular attention on the use 
        of human shields in violation of international humanitarian law and make 
        further recommendations on the prevention of such violation in the 
        future.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.